Swamp White Oak
 Physical Information
Swamp white oak can grow quite rapidly (15 ft every 20 years) and to ages of
more than 300 years old. It is typically short boled, and has a shallow root
system. Swamp white oak is an overall large tree, 50-70 feet in height,
with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet. It forms a rather open, rugged crown of tortuous,
pendulous branches, and short, stiff, bushy spray. It often borders swamps and other
moist areas such as streams and rivers. Swamp White Oak is adapted to conditions of
poor aeration but not abundant in deciduous swamps having a continually high water table.
The leaves are arranged in an alternate pattern. They are simple, about
5-7 inches long, and 3-5 inches broad. Thick and firm, the dark green leaves shine
on top and are whitish on the bottom. Its petioles are stout and about 1/2 inch
long. During the fall the leaves turn color to a yellowish brown or orange.
The tree's fruit consists of acorns that fall on the autumn of the first
season. The acorns are found on pubescent peduncles that are 1-4 inches long,
usually in pairs. They are cup bowl-shaped, with scales somewhat loose (rim often
fringed), inclosing one-third of the nut. It has a light brown color to it and is
about 1 inch long. The kernel is white, sweet, and edible as well. The swamp
white oak's acorn is the only oak tree acorn to have a stalk.
The bark is thick, grayish-brown, and is deeply fissured into broad,
flat-topped, scaly ridges. Also, unlike other oaks, the dark brown bark of branches
peels away in ragged curls exposing the lighter colored bark beneath.
Horticultural Information
Although it lives in damp environments, swamp white oak can adapt to less water.
Swamp white oak is occasionally located in the southern half of the Lower
Peninsula. It is a species of predominantly Midwestern range reaching one segment of
its northern limit in southern to central Michigan. It extends mainly from southern
New England westward through the Central States and southern part of the Lake States to
the Great Plains. There is little extension of its range below the Ohio River.
Here is a map of its distribution among the state of Michigan:
The wood of the swamp white oak is the hardest and strongest (sometimes more
knotty) and is valued for tight cooperage, for mine timbers and crossties. The tree
does not exist in merchantable stands because of the total amout of lumbered white oak,
only 1 percent of it is swamp white oak. Swamp white oak is also used frequently as
a shade tree. Some of its other uses are for making fine furniture, whiskey barrels,
boats, and cabinets.
Swamp white oak should not be planted on alkaline soils because it also may
suffer from iron chlorosis. Other than that, not much attention has been given to
the different diseases of the tree. Although, there has been some identification of
twig-blight fungi as well as oak wilt. Oak wilt kills the tree very slowly, often
one limb at a time. Anthracnose also blights the leaves of swamp white oak.
Barnes, Burton Verne, Michigan Trees, Charles Herbert Otis, 1913
Hepting, George H., Diseases of Forest and Shade Trees of the United States, U.S.
Department of Agriculture Forest Servive, 1971
Johnson, Hugh, The International Book of Trees, Mitchell Beazley Publishers, 1973
Peattie, Donald Culross, A Natural History of Trees, The Riverside Press Cambridge, 1966
This page written by David Guerreso for Bio 141, Botany,
Fall 98
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